Kolkata: Kolkata Police has proposed joint inspection by Kolkata Municipal Corporation and state govt officials concerned – along with traffic and local police – before removing the encroachers from under Gariahat and other flyovers. Cops have proposed to KMC that since they have identified the night shelters where the encroachers s can be accommodated, the two agencies can coordinate and convince the encroachers to shift.The process, they said, can begin from under Gariahat flyover.
“We do not wish to use any form of pressure or force. We will video record the encroachers s and ensure that each one is rehabilitated. The beat officers will be asked to ensure that the encroachers do not return to the spot once they are successfully rehabilitated. The commissioner of police, Vineet Goyal and senior officers have discussed this issue and necessary instructions passed during the crime conference on Friday,” said an officer.
Encroachers are taking over space under some of the city’s flyovers and pavements. On his way home, city mayor Firhad Hakim noticed this recently and brought the matter to the notice of CP Goyal.“Of late, I have been noticing encroachment of space under flyovers. We need to keep these spaces encroachment-free and hence I have asked the cops to keep track of the situation,” said Hakim. The KMC had constructed several night shelters for the homeless and those who have been staying under flyovers could be accommodated in such shelter homes, he said. A woman living under the flyover said,“If we are sent to a night shelter we have to roam the streets during the day.”